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Levirate Unions in Both the Bible and African Cultures: Convergence and Divergence

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Levirate Unions in Both the Bible and African Cultures: Convergence and Divergence International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 4, No. 10(1); August 2014 Levirate Unions in both the Bible and African Cultures: Convergence and Divergence Ogolla Maurice The Catholic University of Eastern Africa Kisumu Campus 1.0 Introduction In this paper, the researcher intends to explore the practice of levirate unions amongst both Hebrews and Africans. It aims at highlighting the points of convergence and divergence between the two cultures, the cultural requirements, the importance of the practice and the consequences of non-compliance. Finally the study considers the challenges facing the practice in Africa South of the Sahara and ends with a conclusion. The term Levirate comes from the Latin ‘levir’ which means a husband’s brother. Levirate unions are those in which a widow is taken by one of her late husband’s brothers in order to raise up children for him (New World Encyclopedia). There is another form of union closely related to this called Sororate marriage. This is the practice in which a widower marries a sister to his late wife, in most cases, to take care of the young children left behind. Ghost marriages are also connected with levirate unions. They are arrangements in which a wife is married in the name of a deceased son who died before marrying, and thus, without children. The children born in this marriage belong to the deceased and not the brother in-law who stands in for him. This marriage is common among the Nuer and Dinka of Sudan. It is also found in China in varied forms. Posthumous marriages are similar to ghost marriages. They are arrangements in which one of the participating members is deceased. This practice is common in France even today. Both levirate and sororate unions were common in communities where marriage was majorly endogamous, that is, marriage within the boundaries of one’s clan only. That between people from outside one’s clan is known as exogamy. Even in this arrangement, levirate unions also existed. 1.1 Background Information The practice of Levirate unions is found in almost all communities world over. According to the Bible (Deuteronomy 25:5-10), it was a common practice in ancient Israel. A brother took his deceased brother’s wife to raise up children for him particularly a son. Sources from early Zoroastrianism; Mitterauer (1994) and Darmester (1891), reveal that there were next of kin marriages otherwise referred to as nuclear family incest amongst the Sasanian Iran. These were said to be between father and daughter, mother and son or brother and sister in royal or noble families. However later literature refute this and note that the marriages practiced were actually between cousins. Polak (1865), notes that Levirate unions also existed in Persia. According to Agarwal (1984), Levirate unions were common in Asia. The Punjab and Haryana of India practiced it; in Pakistan and Bangladesh many communities also practiced it. Among the Punjab and Haryana (India), the brother of a diceased man is obliged to marry his brother’s widow (Malika Manchanda, 2014) In Africa, Levirate unions are found amongst almost all communities from West to East Africa and from North to South Africa. The Igbos of Nigeria, the Nandi, Luo and Kambas of Kenya, many communities in Zambia, Uganda and Sudan, the Supyire of Mali, Akan of Ghana and the Yoruba of Nigeria all practiced it. This study, therefore tries to establish and explain why this union is so wide spread in the world. Literally no continent is left out in this matter. The practice continues up to date in many communities possibly because of this ancient background and the roles it plays. 287 © Center for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijhssnet.com 1.2 Some Misconceptions Levirate marriage has been wrongly referred to as widow or bride inheritance. The practice, in almost all communities, does not accommodate or appear to include the word inheritance. This is because the word inheritance means to take over property as an heir after the death of the owner or succession of a trait. In African communities it is the widow who looks for the kinsman or brother in law to take care of her. Any children born belong to the late husband and never to the caretaker. The widow remains a widow even when she is living with this other man. She is also in a position to dismiss the caretaker at any time she feels like particularly when offended. This cannot be truly called inheritance. The terms that can be properly employed to describe the real situation are widow custody, care for the widow, or management of a deceased brother’s home, the man was a guardian. The widow, as understood in most African communities is never a commodity to be inherited. The terms used for it by ethnic communities in Africa do not also portray the idea of inheritance in their literal meaning. The writer’s conclusion therefore is that the word is political, pejorative, and abusive or meant to degrade some African communities. If a person inherits something, it becomes his or hers for keeps. However in Africa, death does not end any marriage. The widow remains the wife of the deceased until her death. Many NGOs and other bodies working with women today have also claimed that widows are forced to live with inheritors whether they like it or not. According to available literature, what emerges is that widows chose from the deceased’s brother in-laws. Some of the widows amongst the Luo had even to plead with the elders to persuade a kinsman to live with them,( Mboya,1938). 2.0 Levirate unions in Ancient Judaism Judaism, the religion of the Hebrews/Israelites allowed Levirate marriages. Deuteronomy (25:5-10) states that, “If brothers live together and one of them dies, the dead man’s wife must not marry a stranger outside the family. Her husband’s brother must come to her and exercising his Levirate, make her his wife to get a son for the diceased and for Israel”. This arrangement made sure that there was an heir for the dead man, perpetuation of the family name and the stability of the family property (Jerusalem Bible, 1966). Genesis 38 gives a story in which Er the first son of Judah died and his brother Onan was asked by his father to take the widow Tamar and do his duty as the brother in-law, to produce a child for the deceased. Onan had to die for refusing to provide a child for his late brother by spilling his seed on the ground. In Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21, taking your brother’s wife when he is still alive or when she has children is forbidden. The penalty is death. This does not contradict the above law in Deuteronomy as the conditions are different. McKenzie (1965), notes that it was an obligation for a brother-in-law to marry the widow of his deceased brother if the brother died without a male child. It was a disaster for a family line to be extinguished. This arrangement might have included the security of the deceased’s property like land and other assets. Such were not to be left to strangers to take over. 2.1 Levirate unions in Africa Just like any other societies of the world, Africans did not want outsiders to inherit property in a home where they had no links. When a husband died in most communities, a brother in-law was selected by the widow to assist in guarding such property which included bearing children with her to continue the line of the deceased. Kirwen (1979) observes that Levirate unions in Africa are institutions for the care of widows and never a new marriage. They are a continuation of the original covenant. He clarifies further that the brother in law acts as a stand-in for the deceased husband as proved by the residence and the identity of the children born in such an arrangement. They are never his but the deceased’s and live on and inherit the land of the deceased. Mbiti, (1969), notes that Levirate marriages were fairly common in Africa. The children born, belonged to the deceased and as such, inherited what was legally the property of their late father. Such children continued the genealogy of the deceased, not the biological father, and poured out libations to him even if they may not have known him physically. Literally all African communities had a way of managing or taking care of their widows. The Kamba of Kenya had a man going into the house of a widow late at night to spend a night with her and leave around five in the morning so that the children do not notice him. 288 International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 4, No. 10(1); August 2014 It is argued that the children should know of only one man as their father and thus should not notice any other spending on the bed where their late father used to spend. It is as such a sign of respect to the children of the late. The man’s role is to get children for the deceased. Other elderly members of the community may know about it but are not obliged to discuss it in open places. (Interview: Josephat Kisilu – 15.9.2014) Maluleke (2012) in a paper presented in a conference in South Africa reiterated that in Kwa Zulu Natal if a man dies, his widow is asked to choose who to take care of her from the brothers or close relatives of the deceased.
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